[House Report 106-1014]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
106th Congress Rept. 106-1014
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
2d Session Part 1
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COAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND RETIRED EMPLOYEE ACT FOR THE 21ST CENTURY
_______
October 27, 2000.--Ordered to be printed
_______
Mr. Young of Alaska, from the Committee on Resources, submitted the
following
R E P O R T
[To accompany H.R. 4144]
[Including cost estimate of the Congressional Budget Office]
The Committee on Resources, to whom was referred the bill
(H.R. 4144) to provide for the allocation of interest accruing
to the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund, and for other purposes,
having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an
amendment and recommend that the bill as amended do pass.
The amendment is as follows:
Strike all after the enacting clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Coal Accountability and Retired
Employee Act for the 21st Century''.
SEC. 2. TREATMENT OF CERTAIN FUNDS FOR MINER BENEFITS.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, interest credited to the
fund established by section 401 of the Surface Mining Control and
Reclamation Act of 1977 (30 U.S.C. 1231) for fiscal years 1992 through
1995 that is not transferred to the combined benefit fund referred to
in section 402(h)(2) of such Act (30 U.S.C. 1232(h)(2)) prior to the
date of enactment of this Act shall be transferred to such combined
benefit fund within 30 days after the date of enactment of this Act to
pay the amount of any shortfall in any premium account for any plan
year under the combined benefit fund. The entire amount transferred by
this section is designated by the Congress as an emergency requirement
pursuant to section 252(e) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit
Control Act of 1985 (2 U.S.C. 902(e)).
PURPOSE OF THE BILL
The purpose of H.R. 4144 is to provide for the allocation
of interest accruing to the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund,
and for other purposes.
BACKGROUND AND NEED FOR LEGISLATION
H.R. 4144 would require the Office of Surface Mining (OSM)
to transfer any remaining interest credited to the Abandoned
Mine Land Reclamation Fund (AML) from fiscal years 1992 through
1995 to the United Mine Workers of America Combined Benefit
Fund (CBF).
The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977
(SMCRA, Public Law 95-87, codified at 30 U.S.C. 1201 et seq.)
regulates surface coal mining operations by States and Indian
tribes which host mineable coal deposits. Coal mines often went
unreclaimed after the exhaustion of the coal resources until
the federal government stepped in to create a level, highly
regulated playing field through Title V of SMCRA to regulate
the surface impacts of all active coal mines in the United
States.
Title IV of SMCRA provides for the restoration of pre-1977
abandoned coal mines for instances where no former operator was
obligated under State law to reclaim those sites. Title IV
established the AML in the U.S. Treasury supported by a fee
collected by OSM of 35 cents per ton of surface mined coal, 15
cents per ton of underground mined coal, and 10 cents per ton
of lignite. The AML fee is levied on all coal mined anywhere
within the United States and was originally slated to expire in
1992. Congress has acted twice to extend the fee collection
authority. Section 6002 of Public Law 101-508 extended the fee
to 1995; this law also established the AML as an interest-
bearing account. Section 19143 of Public Law 102-486 extended
the fee to September 30, 2004, and mandated that a portion of
the interest in the AML be transferred to the CBF. Public Law
102-486 also required the AML fee to be extended beyond 2004 in
the amount necessary to fulfill the interest- transfer
obligation to the CBF.
This interest transfer device relates back to the Coal Act
of 1992, which established the CBF by merging earlier retiree
benefit programs negotiated between the Bituminous Coal
Operators Association and the United Mine Workers of America
beginning in 1950 when President Harry Truman ordered the end
of a United Mine Worker nationwide strike. These were later
followed by other wage and benefit agreements, the latest in
1988. The Coal Act created a ``reach back'' tax levied on
former companies and individuals (no longer in the mining
business) who signed those labor agreements to pay the
escalating costs of retiree health benefits of their former
workers.
However, an ``unassigned beneficiaries'' class of mining
retirees exists where no entity exists to cover the premiums on
their retirement and health benefits. To protect the solvency
of the CBF, Congress opted to allow the transfer to the CBF of
not more than $70 million annually of interest from
unappropriated balance of the AML trust fund for the unassigned
class only. This transfer, which is not subject to
appropriation, is made after an annual audit calculates the
necessary amount. The transfer has never reached the maximum
allowed and was approximately $42 million in 1999. However,
because of solvency concerns generated by several court
decisions which limited the class of ``reachback'' entities and
the size of the premiums owed by the remaining companies,
transfer of additional AML interest is necessary to cover these
benefits.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Congressman Nick J. Rahall II (D-WV) introduced H.R. 4144
on March 30, 2000. The bill was referred to the Committee on
Resources and within the Committee to the Subcommittee on
Energy and Mineral Resources. The Subcommittee was discharged
from consideration of the bill on April 11, 2000. On May 17,
2000, the Subcommittee held a hearing on assessing future needs
and uses of the Abandoned Mine Reclamation Fund established
under Title IV of the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation
Act of 1977. On July 26, 2000, the Full Resources Committee met
to consider the bill. The bill was ordered favorably reported
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute offered by
Congresswoman Barbara Cubin (R-WY) by unanimous consent. The
Cubin amendment in the nature of a substitute, as does the
original bill, allows the transfer of AML interest to the CBF
without the limitation in current law that such funds be used
only to cover the premium costs of unassigned beneficiaries.
The Cubin amendment, however, limits such transfer to the
amount available from the AML interest accrued during the
period fiscal years 1992 through 1995 (approximately $96.2
million). Interest accruing to the AML in subsequent years will
remain limited to transfer only for the unassigned
beneficiaries' premium costs and remain capped at $70 million
annually.
COMMITTEE OVERSIGHT FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Regarding clause 2(b)(1) of rule X and clause 3(c)(1) of
rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, the
Committee on Resources' oversight findings and recommendations
are reflected in the body of this report.
CONSTITUTIONAL AUTHORITY STATEMENT
Article I, section 8 of the Constitution of the United
States grants Congress the authority to enact this bill.
COMPLIANCE WITH HOUSE RULE XIII
1. Cost of Legislation. Clause 3(d)(2) of rule XIII of the
Rules of the House of Representatives requires an estimate and
a comparison by the Committee of the costs which would be
incurred in carrying out this bill. However, clause 3(d)(3)(B)
of that rule provides that this requirement does not apply when
the Committee has included in its report a timely submitted
cost estimate of the bill prepared by the Director of the
Congressional Budget Office under section 402 of the
Congressional Budget Act of 1974.
2. Congressional Budget Act. As required by clause 3(c)(2)
of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives and
section 308(a) of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974, this
bill does not contain any new budget authority, credit
authority, or an increase or decrease in revenues or tax
expenditures. According to the Congressional Budget Office,
enactment of this bill would result in a net increase in direct
spending in 2001 and 2002.
3. Government Reform Oversight Findings. Under clause
3(c)(4) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives, the Committee has received no report of
oversight findings and recommendations from the Committee on
Government Reform on this bill.
4. Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate. Under clause
3(c)(3) of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of
Representatives and section 403 of the Congressional Budget Act
of 1974, the Committee has received the following cost estimate
for this bill from the Director of the Congressional Budget
Office:
H.R. 4144--Coal Accountability and Retired Employee Act for the 21st
Century
Summary: H.R. 4144 would require the Office of Surface
Mining to transfer any remaining interest credited to the
Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Fund (AML) from fiscal years
1992 through 1995 to the United Mine Workers of America
Combined Benefit Fund (CBF). The Congress would designate the
amount of the transfer as an emergency requirement pursuant to
section 252(e) of the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit
Control Act.
CBO estimates the transfer would increase direct spending
by $35 million in 2001 and $62 million in 2002. Because the
transfer would be designated as an emergency requirement, that
spending would not be subject to pay-as-you-go procedures.
In addition, the legislation would decrease federal
Medicaid spending by $1 million in 2001 and $2 million in 2002.
Because federal Medicaid spending is mandatory, pay-as-you-go
procedures would apply.
H.R. 4144 contains no intergovernmental or private-sector
mandates as defined in the Unfunded Mandates Reform Act (UMRA)
and would result in Medicaid savings for state governments.
Estimated cost to the Federal Government: The estimated
budgetary impact of H.R. 4144 is shown in the following table.
The costs of this legislation fall within budget function 550
(health).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
By fiscal year, in millions of
dollars--
---------------------------------------
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHANGES IN DIRECT SPENDING
Interest Transfer from the AML
Fund:
Estimated Budget Authority.. 97 0 0 0 0
Estimated Outlays........... 35 62 0 0 0
Federal Share of Medicaid:
Estimated Budget Authority.. -1 -2 0 0 0
Estimated Outlays........... -1 -2 0 0 0
Net Effect on Federal Spending:
Estimated Budget Authority.. 96 -2 0 0 0
Estimated Outlays........... 34 60 0 0 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Basis of estimate: H.R. 4144 would provide for the balance
of the AML Fund from 1992 through 1995 to be transferred to the
CBF within 30 days after the bill is enacted. According to the
Office of Surface Mining, $97 million of the interest earned
during that period remains in the fund. Therefore, CBO
estimates that $97 million would be transferred to the CBF in
2001 as a result of that provision.
The money transferred would be used to cover the benefits
of retired coal miners that would not otherwise be covered
because premium collections were insufficient. CBO estimates
that $35 million of the transfer would be used to pay for
benefits in 2001 and $62 million would be spent in 2002.
In the event of a deficit, the trustees of the CBF would
first try to balance the fund through reducing spending on
items and services other than health benefits. But if the
deficit were large enough, they would have to cut benefits. For
retired coal miners who are also enrolled in Medicaid, a
portion of those benefits would be shifted to the Medicaid
program. Under H.R. 4144, the $97-million transfer to the CBF
would reduce the amount of benefits that would otherwise be
shifted to Medicaid. That change would decrease federal
Medicaid spending by $1 million in 2001 and $2 million in 2002.
Pay-as-you-go considerations: The Balanced Budget and
Emergency Deficit Control Act sets up pay-as-you-go procedures
for legislation affecting direct spending or receipts. The net
changes in outlays that are subject to pay-as-you-go procedures
are shown in the following table. Because H.R. 4144 would
exempt the transfer from the AML Fund from these provisions, it
is not included. The table below only shows the bill's effect
on the federal Medicaid spending. For the purposes of enforcing
pay-as-you-go procedures, only the effects in the current year,
the budget year, and the succeeding four years are counted.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By fiscal year, in millions of dollars--
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Changes in outlays................. 0 -1 -2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Changes in receipts................ Not applicable
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Estimated impact on state, local, and tribal governments:
H.R. 4144 contains no intergovernmental mandates as defined in
UMRA. Because additional resources in the Combined Benefit Fund
would provide health benefits to eligible retired coal miners,
estimated Medicaid spending would decrease. Consequently, CBO
estimates that states would save over $500,000 in 2001 and over
$1.1 million in 2002 in the Medicaid program.
Estimated impact on the private sector: This bill contains
no new private-sector mandates as defined in UMRA.
Estimate prepared by: Federal Costs: AML and CBF Funds:
Cyndi Dudzinski Smith; Medicaid: Eric Rollins. Impact on State,
Local, and Tribal Governments: Leo Lex. Impact on the Private
Sector: Lauren Marks.
Estimated approved by: Peter H. Fontaine, Deputy Assistant
Director for Budget Analysis.
COMPLIANCE WITH PUBLIC LAW 104-4
This bill contains no unfunded mandates.
PREEMPTION OF STATE, LOCAL OR TRIBAL LAW
This bill is not intended to preempt any State, local or
tribal law.
CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW
If enacted, this bill would make no changes in existing
law.